The Actual Southern California Locations
where 2003's "S.W.A.T." was filmed.

The "South
Central" scene, where the cops chase a suspect on foot
through a poor
residential neighborhood, was not shot in South Central. Instead,
it was shot onAragon Avenue, in the Cypress
Park section of L.A. (located about a mile
and a half northwest of the previous Lincoln Heights bank robbery location). *

We then see the fleeing suspect run onto a colorful
street where there is a Mexican-
themed parade underway. This was shot
in the same Cypress Park neighborhood,
in the 700 block of Cypress Ave. Surprisingly,
the parade was real! The director
was told he couldn't shoot because the parade was scheduled, so he just
included
the parade in the movie! *

Following the chase, there's a scene where
the cops stop to buy hot dogs at a
colorful arcade, and Samuel Jackson complains when one vegetarian cop refuses
to eat a
"good old American hot dog". This was shot at 539
Spring Street (one block east of Broadway),
in the Latino immigrant section of downtown L.A. *

After warmly greeting his uncle in a restaurant,
the villain, drug kingpin 'Alex Montel'
(Olivier Martinez) slits his uncle's throat. This scene was shot
in an actual French cafe,
"Figaro Cafe" (or "Figaro
Brasserie"), located at 1804 N. Vermont in the trendy Los Feliz
section of L.A.

The scene where the villain's car is pulled
over and he's taken in (by a female cop),
was shot amid the bright lights of the Sunset
Strip, in front of the Key Club,
a popular
night club located at 9039 W Sunset Blvd,
in West Hollywood.

**Asterisk
(*) designates what could be a high-crime area. Exercise reasonable
caution.

More SWAT Locations!Just click the arrow below.

The photos on this page are
stills from the DVD of "S.W.A.T. "
(which you can buy by clicking
here) and are copyright Columbia Pictures.